Broken
by C D Henry
Summary: Losing one person who meant the world to you is hard, losing two is devastating. Kirijo Mitsuru can’t help but wonder why this has happened to the man she loved, although the answer to that question had far reaching consequences she could never imagine.


Broken

A Persona 3 AU Fanfiction

By Chris D Henry

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Summary: Losing one person who meant the world to you is hard, losing two is devastating. Kirijo Mitsuru can't help but wonder why this has happened to the man she loved, although the answer to that question had far reaching consequences she could never imagine.

Author's Notes: Right for all of you who received the P4 Visual Data book that came with the pre-order open it to page 52 and have a look at Margaret's concept art. For those of you who don't go to Megami Tensei wikia site and look at the concept art image on Margaret's page. The two sketches you're looking at are the two on the bottom right.

Does it look familiar? I thought so too, although the events in P4 have made it clear that this couldn't be the actual situation. Even so I thought that it would be an interesting AU situation to write about.

This is not linked to Guiding Light instead it is a 'what if' fanfiction based off the true ending of Persona 3 - 'The Journey' that doesn't take 'The Answer' into account. Although there are a few modifications to some of the aspects of the original story (both because I'm changing a few aspects myself and secondly because Igor is being... liberal with the truth). I warn you now if you're not a fan of depressing situations and are not comfortable with the idea of character death and suicide (sort of) then please turn away now.

On a side note it's become apparent in P4 that the city that Persona 3 was based in could actually be called Tatsumi and that Iwatodai might only be a part of Tatsumi instead of being the name of the city. Now I'm one of the fanfic writers who have used Iwatodai as the city name and to be honest I'm not sure if I'm going to change it, partly because I'm still a bit worried that it is could only be the district name of Port Island and secondly to be honest I sort of prefer Iwatodai.

Reviews and constructive criticism is welcome as always, but please don't flame, this was hard enough to write in the first place.

Disclaimer: The plot, characters and location of Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 3 and Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 4 is copyright of Atlus Co. This piece of fan-fiction has been written for entertainment purposes and no infringement is intended.

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When her father had died, Kirijo Mitsuru had thought that she had reached the murky bottom of the pit of despair. She had thought that nothing would come even close to the sadness and pain caused when he had died trying to repent for the sins of her grandfather. Especially since it was at the hands of a traitor who shared the same delusions. Burying him had been hard and the responsibilities thrown on her afterwards would have crushed her if she didn't have the support of her friends. But that didn't hold a candle to what she had done a few days ago.

She had buried the body of Arisato Minato, the man she had fallen in love with.

Since the cobalt-haired teenager had no family left to speak of the Kirijo Group had made the arrangements for his funeral, not that surprising seeing as if things had continued down the path they had been travelling on, then this could have been the man who would stand by the side of their heiress. It had taken her time, but she had managed to find the plot where his parents had been buried after the car crash all those years ago and had taken great lengths to make sure that he would be buried along side them.

She had thrown herself into the organisation of the funeral with fervour, making sure that nothing had been left to change and that there was no room for error. For those who couldn't seen past the facade and did not truly know her; this was something they expected from the heiress of the Kirijo Group. However her friends, the people who had been at her side through all of this and had been with her when she needed them the most, were worried. And they had a right to be, she had thrown herself into the task in order to distract herself from the pain, so she could keep the facade of the calm and collected heiress intact. To do that she had to bolster the defences she had built around her heart, the ones Minato had effortlessly slipped through without even trying.

And it had worked, she had managed to make it through the final meeting at the dorm where S.E.E.S. disbanded, through worries of her comrades as they tried to offer sympathy that would not help her in the slightest, through countless meetings with the main family of the Kirijo Group as they tried to force another arranged marriage down her throat and finally through having to watch as they buried the man she loved next to his parents, the whole family killed before their time and each death linked to the sins of her grandfather.

It wasn't until she was alone, within the family retreat at Yakushima, with nothing left to distract her that the emotions she had been holding inside broke through her mask like gushing water through a failed dam. Finally alone with no one to judge her she could finally allow herself to feel the pain, sadness and confusion that she had been holding within.

It didn't make any sense. They had won, after they had all been forced onto the floor by the draining aura of the goddess' presence, Minato returned to his feet and had ascended to the moon in order to face the goddess alone. Although she had no idea how he had managed it, the fact remained; Minato had turned back the Lady of the Night, humanity had witnessed The Fall and had survived to witness the aftermath and she knew now that Minato had died there would be no way for her to know the truth.

It had died with him.

"The truth is a mysterious thing, my dear young lady." Mitsuru turned quickly towards the voice, cursing the fact that she was unarmed. She had forsaken the fencing blade back in Iwatodai and all of S.E.E.S. Evokers were now in lockdown at a secured facility halfway across the country. She was surprised to find that her uninvited guest was an old man. "We all seek it, however sometimes we wish we hadn't."

"Who are you?" She demanded, all the while evaluating this intruder to see if he could be a threat and what options she had to work with if things got messy.

The first thing of note was his long nose, however that was pushed to the side after you she had looked into his eyes. Eyes that seemed to force their way into the depths of your soul and laid everything bare. Even the thought sent a chill run down the heiress' spine. After having recaptured her reserve she then took note of his hunched over posture and the walking stick the old man seemed to be using to aid his movement. An old fashioned velvet suit finished the ensemble, leaving an impression of an old doddering man, that demined every single alarm bell that was ringing in her mind, but she had learnt from experience not to take things at face value.

"Ah, I apologise, I have not introduced myself." The old man muttered with a shake of his head before he continued. "My name is Igor and I am a... acquaintance of your friend, Arisato Minato."

"You knew him?" She asked while trying in vain to wipe the smudged mascara from her face, although they had been close she was unable to use his name now he was gone, it would be like rubbing salt on an already nasty wound.

"Indeed, your friend was bound by a contract; as such he was officially a guest of the Velvet Room." Igor started. "My Assistant Elizabeth and I aided that dear young man in honing his powers and I am proud to say that he is one of the finest guests that I have had the privilege of working with."

"The Velvet Room?" She asked, after all it was the best place to start. What was the Velvet Room? What was this contract that Arisato had signed?

"This is something I hope to explain in time, however if you wish to know the truth behind the events that led to humanity surviving The Fall, I must ask you to sign this." The old man clicked his fingers, a velvet coloured folder appearing before Mitsuru as a pen appeared in her hand. It hovered in front of the heiress for a second before following the beckoning gesture from the mysterious intruder and opening up to reveal a single sheet of paper.

_Once I have begun this quest for the truth I must see it through to the end and I will listen to the proposal offered to me at the conclusion._

After a moment of silence Igor finally spoke up. "The Velvet Room can only be entered by those bound by a contract." He explained. "As I mentioned your friend was bound by a contact and for you to discover the truth of his fate you must be able to follow the tracks left by his actions."

That led to a single question that needed to be asked. "What contact was he bound by?"

"To take responsibility for the consequences of his actions." The old man explained before he turned his eyes back to the contract, a look of expectation falling on his face.

Mitsuru took a moment, staring that the pen she now held in her hand. On one hand this was probably a bad idea, she should be signing up to follow through with whatever this intruder had planned, even if she wanted to or not. In normal circumstances she would categorically refuse and demand that this old man leave at once. But these weren't normal circumstances; she wanted to know the truth: What had happened on the moon? How was this man involved with Minato? How did he help Minato 'hone' his powers? What was the Velvet Room? Why was a contract so important? But there was one question that mattered far more than the others: Why did Minato have to die?

There was only one way she could find out.

"Excellent." Igor stated as he watched the red-haired heiress sign her name on the line before turning away, his free hand fumbling through his pockets. "I know I brought it with me." He muttered as he continued his search, after a few moments he let out a small call of triumph as he pulled an old fashioned key, made out of some sort of velvet-coloured metal, out of one of his suit pockets. She couldn't help but note that she had seen such a key before, within the possessions Minato had with him when he had passed away. However such thoughts were cut off by a simple warning from her visitor. "You may wish to take a seat on your bed."

Before she had a chance to ask for a reason for such an action Igor clicked his fingers once again, causing a door to suddenly appear within the room. She barely had time to reach her bed before the key within Igor's hand started to glow and the door opened. The world went black leaving only the sensation of motion as she felt herself being pulled through the door.

---

The first thing Mitsuru noticed as she regained her senses was that she was surrounded by velvet, then it hit her; this was an elevator.

"Welcome to the Velvet Room." Igor stated as he moved towards the covered objects on the left hand side. "This place exists between dream and reality, between mind and matter." The old man paused for a second, in what she could only guess was an attempt at dramatic effect, before he turned to face the other occupant. "Only those who are bound by a contact may enter, that was why I had you sign that document before I brought you here."

The heiress' response was simple. "Why does it look like an elevator?"

"This room is a reflection of the heart of its invited guest; however the shape and the number of residents are at my digression since I am the one tasked with helping those who have the ability." The old man stated as he looked over the room, his eyes settling on the golden control lever behind the desk. "Since our last guest was to find his fate at the top of a tower, it is of no surprise that his journey travelled upwards. An elevator was the most logical of choices."

"I see." The redhead replied as she looked around the room. This was a reflection of Minato's life before he reached Iwatodai, from what she had learned about the teen as he had been marked as a possible recruit and from things they had discussed she knew that Minato had felt as if he had been drifting before he had returned to Iwatodai. Maybe that was why there was covered furniture within, it was a sign that Minato was still unsure if he would be staying in Iwatodai or not.

In the end he had left Iwatodai, just not in the way any of them could have imagined.

"Let us have somewhere more comfortable for our conversation." Igor stated before he clicked his finger once more; this time there was a flash of white light and suddenly everything was different.

While the room was still predominantly decorated with the colour velvet, all signs of an elevator had gone. Instead the heiress found herself standing to the side of a circular room. Although it was still sparsely decorated the focal point of the room; the table with two chairs still stood predominantly in the centre of the chamber.

Gone were the throws placed on top of the furniture to protect it from dust instead the furniture was set up as if it was to be used, there were even a few paintings although the landscapes within did little to give her any new information on her newest acquaintance.

"Please have a seat." Igor offered as he moved to the small sofa which, she would hazard a guess, served as his seat at the table. "Please forgive the difference in chairs, but an old man must be given some privileges."

The heiress merely nodded before she took the offered seat across from the long-nosed man.

After settling himself in his chair the old man clicked his fingers once again, causing a teapot and two cups of tea to appear in front of them. "Arisato Minato came to our attention because of the rare power he possesses." Igor began to explain as he rested his elbows on the tabled and steeped his fingers in front of his face. "I can imagine that you have some idea what I am talking about."

"His ability to use multiple Personae, including the ability to swap in battle if required." The heiress answered.

"Indeed. Your friend draws his power from the Fool Arcana, something we in the trade call the Wild Card." The old man responded. "It is like the number zero. It is empty, but at the same time holds infinite possibilities."

Mitsuru nodded her understanding of the concept and gestured for her new acquaintance to continue.

"As I have said before, it is the duty of those who reside within the Velvet Room to help our guests to hone their abilities. Many of these guests are those who hold the Wild Card." The old man took a sip out of the cup in front of him. "The services we offer are not important to the truths you have set out to uncover, however there is one important fact of Arisato Minato being a guest here that you must take into account."

The redhead thought back, this strange old man had not told her the answer straight out and that implied that she had already been told the answer. Why was Minato being a guest of the Velvet Room important? What was so important about being at guest?

...guest.

"He was bound to a contact." She answered.

"Well deducted. Your friend was bound to a contract on the day he arrived in Iwatodai. Within your dorm just before your Miss Takeba nearly discovered what would happen if you pierced someone else's psyche." The statement left more questions than answers; how did this man know so much? "It was a contact made between our friend and the entity that had been sealed within him."

The entity inside... That could only one person: "Mochizuki Ryoji?"

"At the time the incomplete aspect of Death identified itself as Pharos. Although over time it became Mochizuki Ryoji, the Appriser of Nyx." Igor paused a second before he continued. "Arisato Minato is bound by his contract to take responsibility for the consequences of his actions. If he had destroyed Mochizuki Ryoji, he would have been responsible for the destruction of humanity. The terms of his contact would not have allowed him to turn away from that."

"He would have remembered." It wasn't a question. Whatever had caused the memory loss that had affected everyone after The Fall, failed to affect two people; Aigis due to the nature of her existence and Arisato Minato.

Well that was one question answered.

Igor merely nodded. "Instead he chose to follow through with the wishes of those who stood beside him attempt to stop The Fall by confronting Nyx herself." The old man stopped for a moment, making sure that the information he was passing had sunk in before he continued. "You already know the events that led up to the goddess' summoning and you know the effect that the aura of a goddess of death has on mortals." The old man helped himself to another sip of his beverage. "This was when our dear friend made that first step and started to move beyond his own mortality."

What?

"Excuse me?"

"One of Arisato Minato's powers is the ability to form bonds with those he becomes close to. Each bond is only a mere slither of power, but in the right situation with the right people these small portions of power are enough to reveal the true power of the Wild Card."

"You're saying that during that final confrontation, he was more powerful that he had ever been before it." The concept was one that the heiress was having a hard time accepting, Minato had been powerful as it was, the idea that it was just a fraction of his potential was hard to contemplate.

"The bonds allow one who draws power from the Fool Arcana to draw their power from the World Arcana." The old man made a sweeping gesture over the table causing twenty one cards to appear on it. The Fool was positioned in the centre while the other twenty cards of the Major Arcana, excluding The World, were positioned in two circles of ten cards around it. Igor then clicked his fingers; a gesture that Mitsuru was now positive was more for show than anything else, causing the two circles of cards to glow. There was a flash of light and in the place of The Fool in the centre of the table was The World. "In all aspects a person who draws their power from the World Arcana holds the power of the universe in their hands."

"But that makes it even more baffling." The redhead responded. "If he held such power, why did he die?"

"Because power comes at a price." It was a simple reply. "A good example of this should be something you know all too well."

"Persona." She replied.

The old man nodded in acknowledgement. "Once a Persona user has awakened they can no longer turn a blind eye. It is the price they pay for the power they receive. When a person gains access to the power of the World Arcana they must also pay a price and as could be expected the more power that is acquired the higher the cost."

There was a moment of silence in which Igor was waiting for the obvious question that Mitsuru was determined not to ask.

"It would be easiest to tell you, but as you mortals say: 'Seeing is believing.' An odd phrase in my opinion, it is not that difficult for the eyes to be deceived… Anyway I digress" Igor rose to his feet, clearing away the used china with another click of his fingers. "If you will follow me."

As Mitsuru reached her feet the old man had made his way over to the exit of the room. He opened the door and for the second time today her surroundings became black as once again she felt herself hurtling through the doorway.

---

All around her there was darkness.

"Where are we?" The heiress asked.

"We are between your world and the domain where Nyx resides." Igor answered. "It would be more precise to say that we are within the moon."

"He came here." Mitsuru stated more for herself than her companion. "He faced her here."

Igor merely nodded. "It is not an easy thing to stop a goddess, especially with the situation that he discovered when he faced her."

"Go on." Mitsuru urged.

"Although Nyx in herself is a threat and a dangerous person to face it wasn't Nyx that was the real problem." The old man explained. "You see the Lady of the Night is neither hostile nor malevolent, she merely has a duty that she is fated to do. If it was just the call of her Appriser then there was a chance that Thanatos' defeat would have been the end of whole situation; however there was another force reaching out to the goddess and that leads us to the crux of the matter."

"I don't understand."

"You friend found himself in a predicament. Destroying Nyx would not solve the underlying problem, the problem that had set this series of events off in the first place. You see there is a force on earth that is wishing for death, destroying a goddess requires a large amount of power and in this circumstance it could have just mean that another god or goddess would take Nyx's place." The old man paused to have a glance around the darkness. "You friend decided that the best course of action wouldn't be to destroy Nyx but to keep her away from those who called out to her in hopes that time would be able to do something that he could not and as such he created that."

The heiress turned in the direction that her companion had looked, the minute her eyes locked onto the object he was talking about she couldn't help herself as he feet moved on their own accord. "Minato!"

The 'object' in question could be mistaken for a statue; however the heiress wasn't that easily fooled. The main piece of the statue was a golden door, however that wasn't what caught her attention. Her attention was drawn to the human body that was part of the statue, the part that kept the doors closed.

"So this is how he did it." She muttered as her hand caressed the cheek of the statue that resembled Arisato Minato, only to be drawn away in shock as the statue moved, leaning into her hand.

"So he can sense your presence, most interesting." Igor muttered as he reached her side. "This is the Great Seal, the sole obstacle between Nyx and your world. Arisato Minato created this using the power of his soul, but as I have stated before power comes at a price and the price for keeping the Great Seal intact was his soul."

"His soul!" The redhead shouted as tears start to fall down her face. She had expected many things but nothing like this.

The old man kept frustratingly calm. "You see his soul must remain as part of the Great Seal, its power is necessary in order to keep that which summons Nyx from being able to reach her."

For a moment she felt a glimmer of hope. "Who?" She demanded; if she could stop the force that was summoning Nyx then there was a chance. If nothing kept Minato bound to this spot them maybe...

"Humanity." The old man replied.

She cursed herself for getting her hopes up. If it had been as simple as removing a single person or a cult or organisation then Minato would have been able to handle it himself, she had no doubt. However no single man no matter how powerful or competent they were could change humanity instantly. That would be something that only time and effort could accomplish.

"Deep down, you must have known." Igor replied. "The death cult that arose around Nyx wasn't just the work of your friend's foe; it was something that could only be accomplished with a base to work on. Those who fall on hard times, those who suffer loss, those who are without an objective, all these people at one point or another have desired death and that creates another beast far more deadly than Shadows."

Mitsuru said nothing, her stubbornness unable to allow her to voice that the old man was right, especially since she had been as guilty as the next person.

"We have seen what you needed to see." Igor stated as he turned away from the seal. "Although his consciousness is not here his soul is reacting to your presence. If there is anything you wish to say before we leave, do so."

She looked at the face of the statue, noticing for the first time that the door went far lower than the 'ground' she was standing on. There was so much she had wanted to say to the cobalt-haired teen, things that she was uncomfortable about saying but she was sure that time would remove those barriers. She had been wrong and that had been her biggest regret, however now that she had a second chance she wasn't sure what to say. She thought a moment, unable to put all her emotions into words, but she realised that it wasn't about of what she said; she had to say what mattered.

"I love you." She muttered to the statue as she touched her lips to the unmoving metallic lips of the statue in a brief and all too one-sided kiss.

Not that she could blame him.

Having said what she needed to say the heiress wiped her eyes and turned away from the Great Seal. As she moved away she found herself facing the Velvet coloured door and once again she felt the momentum as her body moved towards the light on the other side.

---

When she regained consciousness, at the place where this journey had begun, within her private chambers in the family retreat in Yakushima, she started to sob uncontrollably. Of all the truths she had expected to find out from this journey, this wasn't what she had expected, neither was she prepared for the truth.

Nyx hadn't killed Minato; he had died because of humanity.

And to be blunt she couldn't say that the sacrifice had been worth it. Nothing had changed, the cult of Nyx may have collapsed but the masses were sheep, if another voice with the same message was to appear, it would start all over again. Then there was the Kirijo Group, there was no way to be sure that there weren't others in the conglomerate that held the same beliefs as Ikutsuki and there was no way to be sure that the board wouldn't damn the world straight to Hell in order to make money.

"Would you like a handkerchief?" The voice shocked the heiress out of her deliberations and turned her attention to Igor who leaning on his stick, by her bedside.

The heiress shook her head as she got back to her feet, having to shift her back in order to get around the slight pain in her back. "Why are you still here?"

"There are still some things we must discuss." The old man replied. "You have seen the truth, but there are still things that must be explained."

"Go on." The heiress urged as she moved into the en-suite, splashing her face with water in order to hide the evidence of her tears.

"As you know Arisato Minato's soul is being used to maintain the Great Seal, however his consciousness is not tied to his soul." Igor stated from the other room. "After The Fall his consciousness returned to his body in order to fulfil a promise that had been made."

"To meet on the school roof on graduation day." Mitsuru supplied.

"Indeed, it was a show of willpower that he was able to hold on to that sliver of life as long as he did." The old man complimented. "Once he fulfilled that promise and he finally succumbed to his fate, he became humanity's representative in what will be the most important debate in humanity's existence."

The redhead raised an eyebrow unable to find a suitable response to the last comment.

"He is now on the other side of the Great Seal, putting forward the case for humanity's continued existence." Igor explained. "A duty that it will be released from when one of three conditions has been met: He manages to convince Nyx that humanity should have a future, Nyx convinces him that humanity must come to an end or his argument is made when the malice caused by humanity's wish for death stops trying to penetrate the seal."

"So I'll never see him again." She muttered to herself.

"That is one option." Igor responded. "However there are other options available to you."

The heiress came out of the en-suite her attention now focused fully on the old man. "I'm listening."

"In my opinion there are two ways that your actions can affect Arisato Minato. The first is to try and reduce the malice in this world, to become a beacon that leads humanity away from its desire for death."

The heiress nodded; it was an option, however as she is now, she wasn't sure that she had the drive or the willpower needed to do such a thing. "And the second?"

"My assistant Elizabeth has decided that it is time for her to find the meaning of her existence." Igor explained. "It is a request I cannot deny her, however it leaves me in need of a new assistant."

"And I take it that I am being offered this post." Mitsuru replied.

"Well that is the other option. If the worse come to the worse I can request aid from my master. However he prefers to leave matters of the Velvet Room to my digression." She couldn't be sure but the heiress was positive that the old man was trying to down play the whole situation. "However there are advantages to accepting."

The heiress' response was simple. "Enlighten me."

"It will guarantee that you will be there when your friend is released from the seal." Well that was a pretty good argument in favour. "But as with all choices there are consequences."

"There are consequences no matter what I do." The heiress muttered.

"Hum, that is one of the facts of existence I'm afraid." Igor muttered in response before he continued. "No matter the outcome, when Arisato Minato is released from the seal he will no longer be mortal. In order to be with him and to be a resident of the Velvet Room you must also surpass your mortality."

"I have to die." The redhead finished.

"I'm afraid so." Igor stated as he shifted his weight on his stick. "Your death will be similar to your friend's, as such your cherished ones may never discover the truths hidden within."

"And the consequences of the first option would be that I would never see him again." The heiress stated.

"And the consequences of doing nothing do not even merit a mention." Having said his piece the old man clicked his fingers, something Mitsuru was positive she would find highly annoying if she entered his service, and a vial of liquid appeared on her bedside cabinet. "If you wish to accept my offer, take this liquid. If you wish to continue your existence as a mortal flush it down a sink, I will know either way." The old man stated as he moved towards the door to the Velvet Room that still existed in the room. "If you decide to accept my offer I will look forward to working with you, if not then I am delighted to have made your acquaintance. Farewell"

She watched as he grabbed the handle with his free hand and with a flash of velvet light her newest acquaintance was gone.

And she had a decision to make.

It was a gamble, pure and simple. Take the liquid and maybe see the one she loved again or play it safe by pouring the liquid down the sink.

Her first thought was the impact her death would have on the Kirijo Group; however after seeing the latest ramification of her grandfather's sins she wasn't sure that the conglomerate's survival merited her concern. They had made their bed, maybe the best thing she could do was to make them lie in it. However there was also the issue with her friends, those who were with her because she was Mitsuru, the person who had fought by her side, not the heiress of one of the largest companies in Japan.

If she made this gamble, she would also be betting on having the chance to explain her actions and the events that led up to them. She was going to be left with a regret no matter which way she turned and in the end it came down to two questions:

Did she have enough faith in humanity to believe that it could turn away from its path of destruction? And if not was she willing to leave Minato alone if humanity couldn't?

She picked up the vial and moved over to the sink in her en-suite, staring at her reflection as she tried to make a decision.

It was a long time before she removed the plug from the vial.

---

When he had heard the news, Sanada Aikhiko had thought that this was one of Junpei's sicker pranks. However after taking a few moments to reflect on the heiress' state at Minato's funeral a couple of days ago he cursed his stupidity for leaving her alone and abandoned his usual training regime in order to make the journey over to Yakushima as soon as he could. When he arrived at Yakushima Tokushukai Hospital and reached the corridor outside the room the receptionist had stated he found out that this was worse than he imagined.

"Akihiko-sempai." Yamagishi Fuuka greeted him with a shaky smile as she rose to her feet.

"How is she?" The silver-haired boxer asked as he looked around the hallway. Junpei was leaning against the wall across from the room, his eyes directed at the floor. Minato's death had hit the black-haired now-senior pretty hard, not surprising since the elation caused by Chidori's revival had left him unprepared for it. The current situation just made matters worse.

Then there was Ken who had settled himself close to the stairwell, his eyes never leaving the exit, as if he almost expected the rote of escape to vanish if he took his eyes off it for a second. The last two members of the room where sat close to the doorway. Aigis, dressed the summer dress she had worn when Akihiko and the others had met her for the first time, sat straight her eyes locked on the brunette who sat beside her with a look of concern and perplexity. Yukari on the other hand took no notice of this or anything else for that matter. Her attention was drawn solely to the piece of paper she held in her hands.

"How is she?" The boxer asked.

"The doctors managed to stabilise her but there's nothing they can do." Fuuka replied. "It's only a matter of time now."

The boxer couldn't help but feel sorry for the three women in the room. Seeing the heiress' condition after the funeral and having heard of her retreat to Yakushima, the girls had decided that the last thing they needed to do was leave the heiress on her own. So they had prepared a two day event filled holiday to make sure that Mitsuru knew that she wasn't alone and they she wasn't the only one hurting.

What they hadn't expected when they entered her private chambers was to find the heiress on the brink of death with a vial of mysterious liquid in her hand.

"They don't even know what she took." Junpei added as he turned his eyes to the newcomer. "They managed to get a sample from the vial, but they have no idea what it is or how to stop it."

"The only possibility is that it's some sort of black project the Kirijo Group's been working on." The green-haired girl added as she sat back down. "The board are denying all involvement of course."

"Can I see her?" Akihiko asked as he looked at the door.

"We were given permission to see Mitsuru-san a few hours ago." Aigis stated. "However her condition deteriorated and we have been asked to standby by for further developments."

There was silence for a few seconds as the reality of the situation hit home. Kirijo Mitsuru, one of the strongest of the whole group had just attempted to commit suicide and if things carried on as they did then she would most likely succeed.

"I must admit I do not understand the logic in Mitsuru-sempai's actions." Aigis broke the silence.

Junpei let out a small chuckle. "That's the point Ai-chan. There's no logic behind this at all."

The gynoid tilted her head to the side. "I do not understand."

"She misses Minato-kun." Akihiko supplied.

"That still does not explain her actions." The blond argued back. "We all miss Minato-kun, if that logic were true we would all be in the same situation."

"It's different for Mitsuru-san, Aigis-chan." Fuuka replied. "She had barely recovered from the death of her father, not to mention the extent of the sins of her grandfather. Minato-kun's death must have been the final straw."

"Ai-chan it just goes to prove one of my theories." Junpei stated after the green-haired girl had finished.

"What is that Junpei-san?" The gynoid turned her attention the group's joker.

The baseball-cap wearing teen let out a small smile. "When smart people do stupid things, they redefine the meaning of stupid."

Once again the chamber filled with silence. There was no argument to that.

Finally the silence was broken by the youngest of the group. "Why do we have to stay here?" When the group didn't reply he continued. "It's the same as it was with Minato-kun; she even has the same smile on her face. Why do we have to stay here and watch her die?"

"Ken-kun." Fuuka mutter at a loss for words, the rest of the group didn't have any better luck coming up with a response.

After a few more moments of silence Ken turned his eyes to the floor. "I'm sorry."

"Junpei." Akihiko said. "Why don't you take Ken into town, get him something to eat."

"Alright." The now-senior replied with a nod as he moved over to Ken's side. "Can on little guy. Let's get some chow and then I'll take you to be beach and see if we can score you a girlfriend."

As the other two males headed down the corridor, Akihiko turned his attention to the only person who hadn't said a word since he arrived. "You alright Yukari?"

The brunette didn't respond, she merely passed the silver-haired boxer the piece of paper she had been staring at through the whole thing. As Akihiko looked at the note he couldn't help by notice the familiar handwriting and the underlying meaning of the writer's final statement. The boxer couldn't help but marvel at the fact that Junpei may smarter than they give him credit for, since he had nailed it on the head: When smart people do stupid things the results are devastating.

_Two in harmony surpasses one in perfection_

---

She stared at the mirror.

While the situation had been explained, somewhere deep in her mind she still wasn't convinced that the person staring back was the reflection of herself. Once maroon eyes had now changed to amber, her striking red hair had also undergone a drastic change, to the point where she needed to take a lock of her now white hair into her hands, letting the feel of it slowly let the truth hit home.

She knew there would be consequences in her decision to replace Elizabeth as Igor's assistant and as the holder of the Persona Compendium; however the change in her appearance wasn't something she had prepared herself for. She briefly wondered if Minato would be able to recognise her, once his time had passed and his soul was released from The Great Seal before dismissing the worry. She and Minato were connected to one another; now that social links had been fully explained she knew that there was more to that statement than just being something to say that would ease her nerves.

She tugged at the collar of her white blouse, straightened the velvet material of her new jacket and smoothed a crease out of the matching skirt before examining her reflection one again. She had considered pulling her hair back but had since disregarded the idea. The eyes were the windows to the soul and while the eyes staring back at her through the mirror were no longer hers she would not lower her guard. There was only one person that she would be willing to show her true self to and he was trapped within a statue in order to safeguard humanity from their own desires.

She turned her attention to the two compendiums that lay on the vanity table in front of her. One bore the name of the man she loved, inside was proof of all the work he had done during the past year, documented within the Personas he had created. This was proof of the understanding and experimentation it took so that he would be able to harness his growing power, while the other was blank. Igor had stated that any future guest would need to hone their abilities to the fullest extent, using the knowledge found by previous guests was a crutch and would only impede the process.

She couldn't understand his point, but she couldn't allow this version of the tome she was charged with to be destroyed. When Minato returned there was a chance he would need access to this tome, as such she would do all she could to preserve and protect it. With one final tug on her collar, she opened up the vanity draw and slipped with used compendium within. Having secured the last link she had to her love, she picked up the blank compendium, tucking it under her arm before she turned away from the vanity table and made her way towards the doorway, away from the private sanctum she had been granted with this domain.

She found herself back within the circular chamber that was the current form of the Velvet Room, to see entity who was master of the chamber staring at the group of Tarot cards that were laid out upon the table. She took a quick glance at her wristwatch before announcing her presence. "Good evening, Master."

The old man known as Igor, a representative of fate, turned to face the young woman, a mysterious grin formed on his face as he returned her greeting.

"Good evening, Margaret."

_**End**_

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_Version Changes:_

– _Completed with self-checking for errors._

_Author's Notes p2: I don't usually do authors notes after a piece but for this one I thought it was necessary. Initially this was meant to be a 3k word piece and as you can see it's got a bit larger than expected. At the moment this is a one-shot, however this universe does warrant some exploration in the future. As such I am contemplating doing a multi-part story going over the events that will replace 'The Answer' and another multi-part story going over the events surrounding Minato's release from the Great Seal._

_While these will be in the works, Guiding Light takes president (although I had to get this idea out of my head so I could carry on with chapter 15) and as such a follow on may have to wait until that piece is finished._

_Anyway let me know what you think. I'm not used to writing pieces like this so reviews and constructive-critic is welcome. _

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